Bob -
Well, I guess a lot of us have been there and done that. I drove 400 miles
on one occasion and 700 on another - to examine "rust-free" Magnettes
which didn't even approach "rust-free". (As somebody on the list
suggested, the "rust" was "free" - you pay only for the car!)
But... now that you know the car is nothing LIKE what it was advertised to
be, let me ask you about the one thing you didn't discuss in much detail -
just how was the body? While I'd hate to give the owner much satisfaction
for his misrepresentation, if this is a really solid rust-free body, it's
worth $1500 - at least here in the rust belt. And if that's all he's
asking for it, you could probably get it for far less. But you'd do it
with your eyes open. A couple of weekends and about $3-400 and you'd have
brakes. A new interior for a GT would raise hell with a thousand-dollar
bill - but we're only up to $2900 so far. So put a rebuilt engine in
it(along with what sounds like a badly-needed new clutch!) - your total
investment creeps up to $4-5000 - depending on what you can do yourself
(and, from a guy who rebuilt his first engine at age 49, let me tell you -
it's more than you think!). You could put another $3-500 into the front
suspension. But hey, what kind of a car can you buy for under six grand?
I know - this is a bit of devil's advocacy. But if the body on that car is
really good, it's still worth considering. It's when you start rust
repair, that multiple thousand-dollar bills start going up in smoke. In
all honesty, if I just came home from the journey you describe, I wouldn't
want to give the owner any satisfaction either. But if the body is really
good, I'd be tempted to confront the owner with all the bad stuff you
discovered and then really low-ball the guy: offer like $800. A really
good bodyshell alone has got to be worth $3000 anyway (try building one!).
You might steel the dumb thing. There's no rocket science here; there's
nothing, I repeat - NOTHING - broke on an MG that 'ain't' worth fixing.
Don't give up just quite yet.
Cheers,
Allen
>From: BOB HILL <oldcars@newt.vallnet.com>
>
>Well just got back from the 6 hour journey to look at the MGB GT. The
>owner obviously described the car the way he WISHED it looked - not the
>way it really was. I spent a lot of time ont he phone asking him
>detailing questions about the car and even mentioned that I had just
>gotten back from a rabbit chase last weekend becasue the guy
>misrepresented the car.
>
>The owner told me that the only problem with the interior was a crack
>onthe dash about the glove box - what B doesn't have that? Anyway, the
>interior was a mess. Cheap seat covers over foam!! The carpet was
>pitiful and the panel were "so-so". He said the car ran great but when I
>test drove it, I was wondering if I woudl make it back to his place! THe
>clutch had to be completely released in order to move the car adn as I was
>driving down the road, the brakes nearly failed and when I went to check
>the emergency brake, it didn't work.
>
>He had told me over the phone tha tthe paint was a "not so good" job but
>in actually, it and the new tires were the only good points of the car.
>Needless to say, he still owns the car!
>
>I am so tired of going to look at cars beased on a description over the
>phone just to drive for hours and see a pile of cr*p! Sorry but I jsut
>had to get that off my chest.
>
>Bob
>
>79 MGB
>77 Midget
>MGB GT - hopefully one day !!!!!
>
mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-m-gmg-mg-mg
Allen Bachelder
'73 B - "done"
'76 B - daily driver
'73 GT - awaiting front wings
'65 B shell - awaiting paint
'67 GT - awaiting everthing
'57 ZB - parts car or resto-candidate? - awaiting decision
'49 YT - in "progress"
mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg
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